


scars make us unbreakable

by tryslora



Series: Tumblr S4 Prompts [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Episode: s04e03 Muted, F/M, Pre-Relationship, Scars, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 20:41:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1955454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryslora/pseuds/tryslora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You wear your strength on your skin,” he says quietly. “No one could ever doubt that you’re a survivor.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	scars make us unbreakable

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt from thedfwthings: _Hi Friend may I please prompt for Derek/Braeden with attention to her scars? Something about them representing that you are a survivor. Any rating, maybe fluff with a side of ust?_
> 
> This takes place as a missing scene in S4E3 before she goes to the Sheriff's office.
> 
> Um, I may have ended up with this reversing a bit, but I hope you still like it? As always, I do not own the world or characters of Teen Wolf, I just like to play with them.

“The sheriff hasn’t seen you before?”

Braeden stops with her tank top lifted halfway, her bra just barely exposed. She sees the way Derek turns away and she smirks at the unasked for privacy he gives her. “I don’t care if you look,” she says. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”

“Do you need me to look?” He doesn’t turn, his arms crossed and his back to her. “Answer the question: has the sheriff seen you before?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Braeden drops the tank top to one side and picks up the uniform top instead, shrugging into it. “And even if he has, do you really think he’ll care? If he takes me aside, I’ll say I’m doing this for you. You’re part of his pack, aren’t you?” She digs a little, pushing at the borders she sees around Derek, the walls he has drawn for himself. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I don’t.” Derek’s voice is flat. “You’re a survivor. You’ll come out of this just fine.”

“Won’t argue that point.” She finishes buttoning the top then switches pants, fixing the uniform and making certain the fit is close enough to pass. “I’m dressed; it’s safe.”

It’s almost cute the way he turns slowly, one eyebrow lifting when he looks at her. His gaze sweeps over her, head to toe and back again. “It might work,” he says.

“It’ll work.” There really isn’t anything else to say, so she simply makes sure she’s got everything she need for this impersonation. “I’ll be back in an hour. If I’m not? Assume something very unexpected went wrong.”

She is stopped by a hand on her wrist. She could twist out of his grip; as strong as the werewolf is, Braeden knows her way around a good breakaway, and strength isn’t always an asset. Instead she looks pointedly from his eyes to his hand on her wrist and back again. “Is there a point?”

He turns her hand over, exposing a spot on the inside of her wrist where a tiny thread of a scar winds around her skin like a vine that holds her still. His thumb slides over it, then he drops her arm and lifts his hand to her throat instead, where the thick scars are ropes across her still, exposed and vivid and angry. “You wear your strength on your skin,” he says quietly. “No one could ever doubt that you’re a survivor.”

It leaves her feeling stupidly warm, his fingers rough against her skin before they pull away. She won’t show the way it affects her, not when he’s still undecided on whether to trust her, and she’s undecided on whether to fuck him anyway. Instead she lets the corner of her mouth curl up. “Scars make us stronger,” she tells him. “If you break a bone and it heals, that part will never break again—the scar protects it. Whether you can see the scar or not, they are what make us unbreakable.” She tilts her head, steps back. “Your scars may not be visible, Derek, but I can still see them. You’re a survivor, too. Trust them to keep you whole.”

He says nothing, his hazel eyes closed off, the window to his soul shuttered against her. It doesn’t matter; she knows Derek Hale better than he thinks. Nothing _needs_ to be said. He’ll still be here when she gets back. She can prove the point then.


End file.
